Affidavit No. 5165/2009

Sworn Statement

After having been warned to tell the truth and nothing but the truth or else I shall be subjected to penal action, I, the undersigned, „Abd-al-Fattah Muhammad Yousef Naser, of Palestinian nationality, holder of ID No. 918778200, born on 1 October 1979, unemployed, and a resident of the Qabatiya town, Jenin governorate, would like to declare the following:

At around 1:00 pm on Friday, 30 October 2009, I was present in my house in the town of Qabatiya. I received a telephone call from someone, who identified himself as a member of the Palestinian Military Intelligence agency in the city of Jenin, and demanded that I surrender myself at the Military Intelligence headquarters. I demanded that he send me a written summons because I was wanted by the Israeli occupying forces, who had raided my house on several occasions and searched for me on the charge that I was a member of the Islamic Jihad Movement. Fifteen minutes later a black, Volkswagen Shuttle military car belonging to the Military Intelligence agency arrived and stopped in front of my house. The phrase “Palestinian Military Intelligence Agency” was inscribed in the middle of a circle on the car. Two persons, who were dressed in the civil uniform, stepped out of the car but I noticed that they carried weapons. They handed my brother a summons, stating that I should surrender myself immediately.

After refusing to do so, I received telephone calls from the so-called “Abu-Sharar”, Director of the Intelligence agency. Within two hours he called me at least 25 times and confirmed to me that I would be released 15 minutes after I was detained. Accordingly, I surrendered myself to the persons who were present in front of my house. I was placed on board the black vehicle and transported directly to the Intelligence headquarters, which is located on the Jenin-Nazareth road in Jenin. I was immediately taken to an interrogation room, where interrogators demanded that I hand over a weapon – a pistol – that was in my possession.

“No matter if you stay here all your life, you will hand over the weapon.” The interrogator said.Having refused their demand, they issued more threats against me and took me to a solitary confinement cell. Before this, I informed the interrogators that I suffered from a disc disease in the spine as well as from infections in the stomach. Over 21 consecutive days, I was subjected to interrogation twice every day. Each interrogation session lasted from ten minutes to a maximum of one hour. On the 16th day of my detention, I declared a hunger strike until the 21st day. In the cell, I had a worn-out, bad-smelling mattress and blanket. On the 12th day of my detention, my elderly mother, Jamila „Abd-al-Fattah Naser (78 years old) visited me. In the presence of an officer of the intelligence agency, the visit lasted for five minutes at most, thereby preventing me from talking to my mother comfortably. On the 21st day of my detention, and after five days of hunger strike, I started to eat again. As a result, I felt severe pain in my stomach. As I cried out in pain, they brought me a physician from the Military Medical Services, who gave me an injection. Due to an improper diagnosis, however, my health condition deteriorated further. They threatened to relocate me to the Juneid Prison of the Palestinian Authority in the city of Nablus and made the necessary preparations to do so. They also told me that I would not receive any medical attention or treatment there. An interrogator said to me that my fate would be death in the midst of my severe pain. Meanwhile, I vomited blood and suffered from an indescribable pain in the stomach. Because I felt imminent danger to my life, I informed them of the location of the pistol, which they retrieved at around 2:00 am on 17 November 2009.

Almost 11 hours later, I was transported to the Jenin Governmental Hospital. Doctors diagnosed that I suffered from a perforation of the stomach wall, causing liquid acid to reach the intestines and posing a real danger to my life. They decided to admit me immediately to the operations room, where I had a surgical operation that lasted for two hours. Thereafter, I stayed at the hospital for seven days, during which my family were allowed to visit me in the presence of at least two guards, who were in the military uniform and carried weapons. Later I was relocated to the Intelligence headquarters, where I was detained for an additional three days. At around 12:00 pm on 27 November 2009, which coincided with the first day of the al-Adha „Eid, I was released. However, I had been forced to sign a paper, stating that I would adhere to the order and the law and not carry any weapon.

I was detained by the Military Intelligence agency for a period of 27 days consecutively. During this time I was not presented to any Palestinian court so as to extend the period of my detention. Neither was a lawyer retained to follow up on my illegal detention. In addition, I am not a member on any security agency of the Palestinian Authority. Therefore, the fact that I was detained by the Intelligence agency was illegal and unjustifiable.

As you can see, I am today confined to a bed and still receive medical treatment after I had the surgical operation on the stomach. Finally, I should note that I had never assaulted any civilians or members of the Palestinian security bodies. This means that I was detained on political grounds and without any justifiable, clear or specific charges. Since May 2009, I have not exercised any activity whatsoever with any faction because I am committed to the political situation prevalent in the West Bank.